


What's beautiful

by MissMandalore



Series: Freyja "Ace" Cunningham [1]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Dancing in the Rain, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Loss of Limbs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-27
Updated: 2016-06-27
Packaged: 2018-07-18 15:59:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,673
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7321567
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MissMandalore/pseuds/MissMandalore
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Fives and his best friend are in love but neither realizes until after a terrible accident.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Kamino.  
Out of all planets they chose to hide me on Kamino.  
Sure, Kamino was one of the best protected planets of the Republic since there was no army without the cloning facilities. But I still felt odd between all those lookalikes and the Kaminoans themselves.  
I spent most of my time with the medics who took care of my bionic arm and leg.   
They did not hurt anymore but I could not get used to see the shiny metal instead of my actual body parts. It felt incredibly strange…   
There was so much… power in these prosthetics.   
And so much I’ve had to learn again.   
To stand, to walk, let alone run, touching someone…   
It felt so strange, so wrong.   
Everything was numb…   
The worst was that I could not remember clearly what had happened to me. All I knew was that I had fallen into some kind of barrel, back in that Hutts palace. The next memory was incredible pain, Kix and Master Fisto holding me in their arms, my clothes soaked with either water or blood or both, I did not know…   
Then I had woken up in a white room, my left arm and leg replaced by shiny durasteel.  
What had happened to my life?   
A few weeks ago I had been an ordinary girl, living on an ordinary planet, with no knowledge about anything that was happening beyond the borders of our solar system. And now I was a cyborg, stuck on this planet, with an ARC trooper assigned to protect and train me.   
Said ARC trooper was a clone called Fives. A cocky bastard who had the number 5 tattooed on his temple. He was reckless and daring, but nevertheless clever, friendly and a good man who stood up for what he did.   
I could not say when exactly I fell for him. All I knew was that I was madly in love.   
Every time he was around me I had to resist the urge to grab and kiss him. He dominated my thoughts at any moment.   
What would it be like to kiss him? How would he kiss? Would he even kiss me back?   
Probably not.   
I sighed and stared out of the window into the pouring rain.   
Why the hell did I have to fall in love with a clone trooper? There were so many men in this galaxy, why did it have to be Fives? Why him…   
“Hey, I was looking for you” a familiar voice said, interrupting my thoughts.   
Fives, the man himself, stood in the door to my room. He was in full armour, helmet in his hand.   
I couldn’t help but blush at his sight.   
“How long have you been standing there?”   
He chuckled and closed the door behind him.   
“Long enough” His deep, husky voice sent a shiver down my spine.   
“Are you alright?”   
I did not answer immediately. His presence made me nervous although I’d never admit it.   
“May I?” he asked, before sitting down beside me.   
“The rain…” I said after a while in an attempt to start a conversation.   
“It reminds me if my home…”   
I didn’t dare to look at him. He was so incredibly close…   
“My home lies far north, in between an ocean and the sea. The weather is rough, like we say, only for the hardest fish. It’s an awful translation and yeah, that probably sounds kind of odd, but that’s what we say…”   
A smile crept on my lips. My home… Rough, but incredibly beautiful…   
“If you stand at the beach during a storm, only you, all alone, the rain soaking through your clothes and the wind being so strong, you think you’ll be blown away… When the waves cover the entire beach… You’ll finally see, you’ll feel the true power of nature… You’ll realise its might… And beauty…”   
For a moment I closed my eyes and remembered the feeling I just described. It felt surreal… The girl that had been standing there… All this seemed to be so incredibly far away…   
“Sounds like… an impressing place.”   
I nodded.   
“Yeah… It certainly is…”   
We hushed for a while until Fives stretched out his hand turned my face gently, so I had to look at him.   
His eyes caught me immediately. They were so beautiful… Gentle and caring…   
“You’re avoiding me little one” he said.   
“Why?”   
My mouth went dry. I wanted to tell him the truth, to scream, to shout, so everyone could hear it but I couldn’t. I couldn’t do it…   
What would he think of me?   
Most likely he would assume I was a naïve little girl…   
“It’s… I… I miss my home…”   
I couldn’t look at him any further…   
And it wasn’t even a lie. The last weeks had been an incredible adventure until… Until I had lost an arm and a leg.   
Now, I was half human half machine. A stranger in my own body…   
With tears in my eyes I leaned into the window and pulled my legs close. The left was cold and hard, while the other was comfortably warm.   
“In summer we used to dance in the rain” I went on to tell him.   
“Until we were completely soaked”   
Fives chuckled.   
“What?” I asked and couldn’t help but smile.   
“You’re dancing in the rain?”   
I raised an eyebrow.   
“You don’t?”   
He shook his head, still smiling.   
“I was raised a soldier princess. We didn’t caper through the rain”   
For a moment I just looked at him in disbelief.   
“You honestly want to tell me that you grew up on this planet but never danced in the rain?”  
I couldn’t believe it…   
It took me a while to swallow the news but then I had an idea.   
“Let’s do it”   
“Do what?” Fives asked a little nervous.   
I rolled my eyes.   
“Dance in the rain”   
With that I jumped out of the bed, slipped into my shoes and pulled him with me to the door.   
“But…”   
“No buts, you’re coming with me”

We had spent enough time in Tipoca now that I knew it better than anyone who wasn’t a clone trooper.   
My steps were uneven yet fast. I did still struggle, but every time I nearly fell, Fives was there to catch me.   
My heart felt like it would jump out of my chest every moment.   
When we finally arrived the hangar I was so nervous, I nearly regretted my dedication.   
What was I thinking?   
But now, that I brought Fives here, I did not want to back out either…   
I took a deep breath before I opened one of the doors and pulled him with me into the pouring rain.   
It was only a matter of seconds until we were both completely soaked.   
Though, the feeling was incredible.   
For the first time that I was here I felt… free…   
My sadness was gone.   
Laughing I ran and jumped a few meters to get away from the building.   
Wind… Rain… I sucked in the air as if I hadn’t breathed properly in all my life.   
It was cold but too beautiful for me to care.   
When I turned to Fives he still stood at the door and watched me with amusement.   
“Come here!” I shouted, hoping he could hear me despite the howling wind.   
“Come here and dance with me trooper!”   
He hesitated but then he walked up to me. I couldn’t help but being nervous again.   
Did I really want this?   
Then suddenly he was there, standing only centimeters apart…   
I had to tilt my head back to look at him. Why did he have to be so tall?   
“And now?” he asked, gently taking my hands in his.   
My heart raced incredibly fast now…   
Did this really happen?   
I couldn’t think properly… My head was spinning…   
“Now… we dance”   
I lay his hands upon my hips and my arms upon his shoulders.  
“Let me guide you, ok?”   
Slowly, carefully I took a step to the right. Fives did the same.  
I couldn’t help but smile.   
“And now a step back… Left, NO, other side, yeah, now back to me. Great, now we do all this while spinning around, you read me?”   
I did not know how often he had stepped upon my toes but he was a fast learner. A few minutes later we danced a waltz that was (although slow) nearly perfect (and incredibly close).   
The floor was wet and slippery, the wind was cold but I didn’t care.   
Fives was everything that mattered to me right now. I was lost in his eyes. Those incredibly beautiful eyes…   
His hands were on my hips, careful, as if he was afraid to break me.   
After what felt like an eternity, an incredible eternity, Fives pulled me closer and suddenly his lips were on mine.   
I was paralyzed.   
Was that even real?   
This could not be happening…   
When he pulled back, I just stared at him in disbelief.   
“I’m sorry…” he mumbled and let go of me.   
“What…” I whispered, still not able to understand what had just happened.   
Only when he attempted to leave I managed to move again.   
I grasped his arm, pulled him down to my level and kissed him like I had never kissed anyone before.   
His lips were so incredibly soft…   
He pulled me into his arms and I buried my hands in his wet hair.   
How long had I waited for this to happen?   
Fives… to kiss him… it felt so good… so right…   
I couldn’t say how long we kissed. For me it felt like an eternity, a dream I didn’t want to wake up from. But then it was time and we pulled apart again.   
We looked at each other for a moment. The feeling was strange… As if we would see each other for the first time…   
A grin crept on Fives’ lips. He looked exactly like a little boy who just got the largest Christmas present in the world.   
“You…” I stammered I’m disbelief.   
He nodded and stroked my back gently.   
“Yeah… I wanted you from the very first moment on…”   
My cheeks started burning.   
“From the… C'mon, I nearly killed you!”   
A coarse laugh escaped Fives’ throat.   
“It needs a little more than a crowbar to kill me little one”   
Then he kissed me again. Different this time… This kiss was… light, playful… A smile crept on my lips. For now there was only Fives, me and the rain that was pouring mercilessly on our heads.

Tbc.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: this one’s really angsty but there’s also fluff at the end. And it’s cute, OMG

Back in my quarters I was alone, but felt like I was floating.   
Still, I could feel Fives’ lips on mine. His hands on my waist…   
Smiling I went to the bathroom where I stripped and wrapped my body in a towel.   
But as soon as my eyes caught my image in the mirror, the smile faded.   
Shiny durasteel.   
Scarred skin where the prosthetics were attached to my body, where my shoulder used to be.   
Slowly, I raised my hand to run my fingers over the scars. Numb…   
I could not hold back the tears anymore.   
What had I become?   
The… thing in the mirror…   
How could this have happened?   
Why?   
My sight blurred and I sank against the wall.   
What should I do?   
My body would never ever be the same again. I would never ever have a normal arm again, let alone a leg. This bloody durasteel would be with me my entire life!   
I felt nothing but despair…   
A loud knock on the door woke me from my thoughts.   
A moment I wondered. Who the hell could possibly want something from me? At this time?   
Then I remembered Fives.   
Fives…   
I started sobbing.   
How could he still want me?   
I was… disfigured, disgusting, a monster!   
But the knocking didn’t stop.   
I felt panic rising in my chest.   
What if he saw me like that? What ever he might have felt for me, he couldn’t possibly ignore this… sight… Metal, scars, my body wasn’t human anymore…   
Desperate I curled up underneath the towel.   
He must not see me like this…   
There was a slight swoosh, like a door being opened.   
He was in my quarter…   
“F*ck off Fives!” I cried out.  
“Leave me alone!”   
For a moment everything was silent, until he knocked on the door to the bathroom.   
“Princess?”   
I pressed my hands on my mouth in order to contain a sob.   
“What happened?”   
Fives’ voice sounded so worried…   
How could he worry about me?   
“Please open the door…”   
I snorted.   
“What do you want from me?”   
As soon as I spoke those words I desperately wished I could take them back.   
Did I hurt him? Of course I did…   
Fives hushed for a long time.   
With every silent second my fear of his answer grew.   
When he finally spoke up, I was unable to breathe.   
“I love you”

It was the last I had expected.  
His words echoed through my head.   
I love you…   
When I stood up and opened the door, I felt like in I was in trance.   
Fives stood right in front of me. He had changed. Instead of his armour he now wore the same red tunic like the recruits.   
His face seemed pale as he looked down to me, so incredibly worried…   
“Is that… You… Is that true?” I stammered, unable to understand.   
Fives sunk to his knees and wrapped his arms around my waist.   
I froze.   
“What… are you doing…”   
He looked up to me in a way that made my heart beat faster. So incredibly loving…   
“Please… Don’t ever do that again…”   
“What?” I asked, a little irritated.   
“Scare me like that…” he answered.   
I did not know what to say…   
“How can you love me…” I whispered, desperately trying to hold back my tears.   
He looked at me blankly.   
“I… I’m a monster…”   
A deep growl escaped his throat.   
“Who says that?”   
“I say it!” I shouted and felt tears running down my cheeks.   
“I’m a monster…”   
Fives shook his head and stood up.   
“No…” He gently stroked my wet hair out of my face.   
“You’re the most beautiful woman in the entire galaxy…”   
With those words he kissed my forehead.   
“Clever… Friendly… Brave…”   
Every word was followed by another kiss.   
“Strong… I love you because you fascinate me… You’re an inspiration… After Echo died… I didn’t know how to go on… But then I met you and… You gave me a purpose again. A reason to stay alive…”   
I didn’t know how to respond. Fives’ words… They caught me completely off guard.   
How could it be that I meant so incredibly much to someone?   
After all I was just… me…   
But Fives kissed me over and over again while his hands caressed my body.   
My body that was only covered by a towel…   
My arm, my leg…   
I tried to retreat but Fives held me back.   
“You are beautiful, do you understand me?”   
He ran his fingers across the scars on my shoulder and then my arm.   
“And I love you just the way you are”   
That was too much.   
I finally burst into tears.   
Fives picked me up, like a child and carried me to the bed. He didn’t even seem to notice my weight…   
Gently, almost careful he pulled the wet towel from my body.   
I winced but he did not even bother to look at anything but my face. He threw it away before he wrapped me in my blanket.   
How did I deserve this man?   
When he lay down beside me and pulled me into his strong arms, my tears finally dried.   
I could not cry any longer…   
Fives was so… perfect…   
The way he cared about me…   
For the first time since my accident I felt safe… secure… protected… happy…   
I cuddled up to his warm chest and he placed a gentle kiss on my hair.   
He felt so good…   
It did not take long until I was half asleep. But before I drifted away, I looked up to Fives one last time.   
“I love you too…”


End file.
